In what one commentator said was a prod at nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Emperor Akihito recently told visiting Philippine President Benigno Aquino III that Japan feels “remorse” for its actions during World War II. The Emperor’s role is narrowly defined and he is ...

The Liberal Democratic Party has asked a doctor who operated on Emperor Akihito to run in the gubernatorial election in Saitama Prefecture in August, the ruling party’s local chapter said Wednesday. Atsushi Amano, a 59-year-old professor at Juntendo University, declined to comment. The LDP, ...

For Kiyokazu Tsuchida, a 95-year-old former Japanese sailor who fought on Peleliu Island in 1944, witnessing the Imperial Couple’s visit to honor the war dead on Thursday was not just for him. One of only 34 Japanese survivors from a fierce battle that claimed ...

Following is a list of key events related to Palau and the visit this week by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko to mourn the war dead: 1914 — Japan seizes Palau and other Pacific islands at the start of World War I. 1920 — ...

Emperor Akihito arrived Wednesday in the Pacific island nation of Palau, where he will visit a World War II battlefield, the latest journey in his efforts to soothe the wounds of the conflict that still haunts Asia 70 years after its end. Some 10,000 ...

“If the war had been prolonged for half a year, all Japanese immigrants would have starved to death,” Zensho Kinjo says of the situation faced by Japanese settlers in Palau toward the end of World War II in 1945. Kinjo, 92, moved in spring ...

Palau is stepping up preparations for next week’s visit by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, who are coming to mourn those who died on its islands during the war. Authorities of the island nation, with a population of around 20,000, are making sure the ...

As this year marks 70 years since the end of World War II, Emperor Akihito plans to fulfill his long-held desire to visit Palau next week, a decade after infrastructure issues ruined his previous plans. Before the Emperor and Empress Michiko visited Saipan in ...

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko met with two survivors of the battle for Peleliu Island on Sunday ahead of the Imperial Couple’s visit to Palau early next month, the Imperial Household Agency said. Keiji Nagai, 93, and Kiyokazu Tsuchida, 95, survived the bloody battle ...

Officials in Palau plan to open up a cave on the island of Peleliu this month to help Japan retrieve the remains of soldiers who died in a fierce battle with U.S. forces during the Pacific War. Temmy Shmull, governor of Peleliu state, unveiled ...

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will go to the West Pacific island nation of Palau on April 8 for a two-day official visit to commemorate the souls of the war dead and pray for peace to mark 70 years since the end of World ...